Is the NAND shortage really going to effect SSDs?

As we stated in a recent blog, NAND is, in fact, in short supply these days. But let’s be honest, is it really going to effect the supply going to SSDs? Will our options for buying an SSD-base notebook PC dry up over the next few quarters? Or will notebook PCs with SSDs double in price? Probably not…. As we all have seen in the past, price takedowns for SSDs (and thus NAND) have outpaced the actual cost takedowns that these vendors have been dealing with. However, this latest tightness in NAND supply (mainly as a result of 3D NAND delays and a transition to higher capacities in smart phones) should not have to much effect on the system OEM based SSD market, but rather the lower end consumer type devices taking NAND (think thumb drives, eMMC, etc….). NAND going to SSDs for OEM servers, OEM storage systems, hyperscale implementations, and major notebook vendors should be able secure enough for current qualified and/or volume shipping products. There may be some back and forth on pricing, with some vendors being able to raise SSD pricing a bit, but others either staying flat on pricing or tempering the drastic takedowns that have been common over the past couple years.

Regardless, all is right in the world….. there’s no need to stock pile SSDs in your garage. The industry will survive and life will go on as we know it.

One thought on “Is the NAND shortage really going to effect SSDs?”

The shortage is biting. As of now (mid-September), lead time for HP SSD enterprise-grade disks is very long, over twice what was just a few months ago. It now takes at least 8 weeks to get hold of a 1.92T SSD disk (Samsung), at reasonably large volumes (20-30 units per order).